A few days after reports claimed that a food safety raid at Zomato‘s Hyperpure warehouse in Hyderabad found 90 packets of button mushrooms with a “future packing date,” the company’s co-founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal, explained it was a mistake by the vendor.
FSSAI discovers 90 mushroom packets with incorrect dates
Deepinder took to X to acknowledge that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) team found 90 packets of button mushrooms with wrong packaging dates. However, he emphasised that Zomato’s warehouse team had already flagged and rejected these items during quality control checks.
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Goyal explained that the wrong packing date was a typing error by the vendor. He added that the vendor has been removed from Zomato’s database. Goyal emphasised Zomato’s commitment to food safety, saying, “We are committed to upholding industry food safety standards and are focused on not compromising on product quality at any stage of the supply chain. The recent food safety inspection at our Hyderabad warehouse resulted in the Hyperpure warehouse achieving an A+ rating, the highest benchmark in their ranking.”
Housflies, handlers without hygiene gear in Zomato’s Hyperpure
Previously in this month, the Commissioner of Food Safety, Telangana, posted on X that its task force team inspected Zomato Hyperpure in Hyderabad on October 29. They found 18 kg of button mushrooms with a packing date of October 30, 2024, which violated food safety rules.
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Additionally, the post noted that house flies were found on the premises because there were no insect-proof screens, and some food handlers were not wearing proper hygiene gear, like hair caps and aprons. It’s important to mention that the warehouse is a Food Business Operator (FBO) and supplies food to hotels and restaurants.
Even though Zomato has valid licences and medical certificates for food handlers, these reports raise concerns about their food safety standards. This incident comes after a report in June about safety violations at another Zomato-owned facility, Blinkit, in Devar Yamjal, Medchal Malkajgiri district.
Furthermore, the Telangana food safety department said they seized edible items worth INR 82,000 from the premises that either didn’t meet food safety standards or had expired licence. These hygiene issues come amid increased focus on food safety in India, as complaints tend to rise during festive seasons like Diwali.
